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Government Building

The Greek legislature has approved a contentious work legislation that authorizes 13-hour work shifts, in the face of fierce opposition and nationwide strike actions.

The administration asserted the measure will modernize the country's labor regulations, but critics from the progressive party labeled it as a "regulatory disaster."

Main Provisions of the New Work Legislation

According to the freshly approved legislation, yearly extra hours is capped at 150 hours, while the regular forty-hour week continues as before.

The government emphasizes that the longer shift is elective, only affects the business sector, and can only be applied for up to 37 days each year.

Parliamentary Backing and Resistance

The recent ballot was backed by MPs from the ruling centre-right party, with the centre-left faction – now the primary opposition – voting against the bill, while the progressive group did not vote.

Worker organizations have organized two general strikes calling for the bill's withdrawal this month that halted transportation and services to a standstill.

Official Justification and Worker Protections

A senior official defended the bill, stating the reforms bring in line Greek laws with current labor-market conditions, and alleged critics of misinforming the public.

The laws will provide employees the option to take on extra work with the same employer for increased pay, while guaranteeing they will not be fired for refusing overtime.

The measure follows EU working-time rules, which cap the average workweek to 48 hours including overtime but allow adjustments over a year, according to the administration.

Critical Viewpoints and Union Reactions

But, critics have accused the government of weakening workers' rights and "driving the country back to a medieval work era." They say local workers already put in more time than most Europeans while earning less and still "struggle to make ends meet."

A major labor organization stated flexible working hours in practice mean "the abolition of the standard workday, the disruption of personal time and the legalisation of excessive labor."

Previous Workplace Changes and Financial Background

In 2024, Greece enacted a six-day working week for specific sectors in a attempt to boost economic growth.

New laws, which came into effect at the beginning of the summer, permit employees to labor up to forty-eight hours in a workweek as instead of 40.

EU Labor Statistics and National Financial Metrics

• Across the EU in 2024, the longest average hours were recorded in the Hellenic Republic, then Bulgaria, Poland (38.9) and Romania (38.8).
• The lowest working week in the union is in the Netherlands, as per Eurostat.
• Starting January 2025, Greece's official minimum wage was €968 a month, ranking it in the lower tier among European nations.
• Unemployment, which had reached a high at 28% during the financial crisis, was 8.1% in August compared with an EU average of 5.9%, figures from Eurostat show.
• Greece is improving since its decade-long debt crisis, which ended in recent years, but wages and living standards continue to be among the poorest in the EU.